Just Riden (Coast to Coast) - Saafir

"Bored bored in my house it's time 4

Me to hit the streets and find me

A freak without a bra unda." These are the starting lines of a classic song by Saafir. Saafir has been one of my favorite MC's for the longest. He's the leader of the Hobo Junction crew from Oakland, but he's most known for playing the role of "Harold" in Menace 2 Society. His debut album "Boxcar Sessions" is another classic album that dropped in 1994. He stood out amongst several MC's that had a large buzz from the West Coast. At the time, when people thought of West Coast Hip Hop, they automatically thought of Gangsta Rap. That assumption was reasonable since, their pioneers are King Tee (The Foundation, this will be explained in an upcoming article), Ice T, and N.W.A. (Dr. Dre, Easy E, Mc Ren, Dj Yella, Ice Cube). Saafir and Hobo Junction came out during a new wave of Hip Hop. Alongside several Mc's who would meet together and perform at the GoodLife cafe. This includes, Freestyle Fellowship, Souls Of Mischief, and many others. (Apparently Fat Joe, performed at the GoodLife cafe and got boo'd. Maybe because he was from the East Coast?, Not to cast assumptions but that could've been a factor. It could've been because he was a little raw and wasn't the D.I.T.C. Fat Joe who we all miss.) 

Boxcar Sessions helped to set a standard for rap albums. As long as I'm concerned his legacy isn't rooted in albums but in battling. Many West Coast Mc's were fierce battle opponents (Ice Cube, Nuff said). He led Hobo Junction in a battle against the Heiroglyphics Crew ( Led by Del the funky Homosapien.) Legend states that the battle happened because Heiro was upset about the fact that Casual ( Heiro Mc, underground legend, check out Fear Itself....), featured Saafir on his album, and Saafir didn't return the favor. If you're interested in hearing the battle, you should visit youtube. Whoever won the battle is irrelevant, it changed battling just as much, if not, more than how Kool Moe Dee changed battling when he battled Busy Bee (Another classic battle.) Anyway, I decided to give props to one of the Mc's who I consider to be the "Foundation." If you don't know, now ya know...., you should check Saafir out. I'm done, Finna bump this west coast classic, "Just Riden."